Tom Brady on Friday’s preseason debut: ‘It was fun being out there’

FOXBORO — After sitting out the first preseason game with the Redskins last week, Tom Brady got his first action of 2014 Friday night against the Eagles and he couldn’t have been more excited.

“It’s fun being out there. Sitting on the sideline like last week isn’t nearly as fun, so getting out there and getting a chance to play a little bit was great,” said Brady. “It was a great experience for me — fun to be out there with my teammates, so I enjoyed it.”

Brady and the Patriots were looking good on their opening drive of the game as they ran nine plays, going 39 yards to the Eagles’ 41-yard line, but it suddenly came to a screeching halt. Brady was picked off by Eagles cornerback Cary Williams and he returned it 77 yards for a touchdown.

The pass was intended for tight end Steve Maneri, but there was a miscommunication between the two and Williams was able to step in for the interception.

“It happens and I’m glad it happened in the preseason,” Brady said. “The one thing about offensive football is all 11 guys have to be on the same page, so those are things we’re all trying to try to correct.”

Brady settled down after the interception as on the following drive he led the offense on a nine-play, 74-yard drive, capping off with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Kenbrell Thompkins.

“KT [Thompkins] made a great catch,” Brady said. “I’ve got so much confidence in him and what he’s been able to do and continue to achieve for us has been great, so hopefully there will be a lot more of those.”

The quarterback’s night was done after the touchdown drive and he finished 8-for-10 for 81 yards with the touchdown and interception. Playing two series’ is the standard for Brady in the second preseason game as in four of the six previous second preseason games that is what he’s done.

“We had a good drive going there to start the game and we showed a little mental toughness getting the touchdown there on the second drive, so it was great,” said Brady.

The 37-year-old quarterback is looking forward to working with all those guys this coming season.

“They all have some different skill sets to allow them to get open in different ways,” said Brady. “We haven’t done a lot of that this year, but I think all the skill guys are going to have to play a big part of our team this year. It isn’t just going to be one group out there all game. Everyone who is out there is going to have to contribute. So it was great to see all those guys in there making plays. It’s just the way it needs to continue to be for us.”